Broker Spotlight: Quality Over Quantity

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Ed Haraway

Broker/Owner

EXIT First Realty

Bowie, Maryland

Years in real estate: 17

Originally from: Brentwood, Maryland

Career path: ?I had owned a printing company and sold it in 1987. At that time, I had to sign a two-year non-competitive agreement, and got into real estate, thinking I?d play in it for two years and then go back to the printing industry. But, I never went back.?

Opened first office: April 2004

Number of offices: 3

Number of agents: 210 2004 sales volume: ?My sales volume was about $32 million.?

Projected 2005 sales volume: ?I estimate $35 million.?

Hobbies: ?I play all kinds of cards, darts, and I still actively play softball.? First celebrity crush: Julia Roberts

If I wasn?t in real estate, I?d be: teaching

Nobody knows: ?I was a long-haired hippee in the ?70s.?

You joined EXIT Realty fairly recently, about 18 months ago. Can you talk about your experience with the company and why you decided to join EXIT after years spent at RE/MAX? In early 2004, I decided to buy my own agency. After looking for a bit, I came across EXIT. It was a new concept?the company allows agents to have a retirement system and rewards agents for recruiting and helping to build the company. I believe it will have the impact that RE/MAX had 30 years ago. It?s not just the brokers and company that benefit, but also the agents.

We?ve gotten off to a great start. Our Bowie, Maryland office is EXIT?s fastest growing office. I started with eight agents and now have 162. That was only about a year-and-a-half ago. I really attribute that success to training agents properly, which includes how to recruit properly.

We?re doing so well that we have two more offices in the works. We hope to have them open by the first of the year.

What is your biggest concern with the industry today?

I am most concerned about the lack of training that agents are getting these days. A lot of agents are currently successful without proper training, but that?s only because of the market. Even with a slight cooling of the market, as we are currently seeing now in the Washington, D.C., metro area, transactions are falling apart; they need to be redone. At EXIT, this is one of the reasons we focus so much on training. People come on board, and automatically have additional training to do. We also offer continuing training?about 60 hours per month.

What has been the key to your success over the years?

I have always put the clients? needs first. I always tell my agents that the secret to success is taking care of your clients and if you do that, you?ll never have to worry about money. I also keep in contact with all of my past clients, with mailings, postcards, letters. They usually get something from me every six to seven weeks.

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